Pumping apparatus



Jan. 8, 1924. 1,480,482

H. J. WHEELER PUMPING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 16. 1921' Patented Jan. 8, 1924.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERVEY J. WHEELER, OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR TO B. 3,. WHEELER SAL- VAGE CO. INC., OF BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PUMPING APPARATUS.

Application filed August 16, 1921. Serial No. 492,698.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, Hnnvnr J. WHEELER,

a citizen of the United States, residin at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and tate of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pumping A pparatus, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention provides a pumping apparatus, especially adapted for the wlthdrawal of fuel oil from the bottom and over the sides of a vessel.

This fuel oil is viscous, sticky and in cold weather almost jelly like. 7

My invention has for its object to emulsify or minutely subdivide the viscous material to be pumped by means of the admittance of atmospheric air at the suction end in suflicient quantity to emulsify or to an minutely subdivide and carry the viscous material over the ship side when accentuated by a vacuum.

My invention has also for its object to provide an ad'ustable steam inlet at the suc- '3 tion end so t at steam may be allowed to enter into the emulsified viscous material, thus increasing its temperature and decreasing its viscosity. The tendency of the viscous material to cling to the side of the suction hose is thus reduced and the system will not clog.

My invention has also for an object to provide combined exhaust and settling tanks of enough capacity so as to maintain the R required vacuum when the suction inlet is exposed, thus preventing an interruption of service. My invention has a further object of providing a surface nozzle which has a restricted part to be submerged in the liquid material to be pumped and an enlarged body part communicating with the atmosphere through passages which are parallel with the suction line in order to prevent the loss of momentum of the inrushing atmospheric air.

In the drawing Figure 1 shows the general pumping arrangement.

Figures 2 and 3 show the detail construc- 5 tion of the suction nozzle.

Referring to the drawing in which like reference characters designate corresponding parts, 1 represents the vessel from the double bottom of which the fuel oil is to be 55 pumped. I

Alongside the vessel a barge 2 is moored and on the deck of the barge an exhaust tank 3 and an air suction pump 4 are located. The air suction pump 4 is connected to the exhaust tank 3 by means of the suction line 5 which is supplied with an atmospheric valve 7, and the air tank 3 is supplied with the drain 6, and with the flexible suction line 8 at the end of which the nozzle 9 is secured. a

The steam hose 10 is attached to any con venient'steam line in the vessel and steam is admitted through the pipe 16 and the nozzle 14 into the suction line 8 when the valve 15 is opened.

Air holes 13 are provided in the annular space between the restricted nozzle neck 11 and the enlarged nozzle body 12.

The procedure of operation is as fol lows The hose 8 is swung over the ship side, the steam hose 10 is roperly connected,

valves 6 and 7 are close and the air suction pump 4 is started.

The restricted neck 11 of the nozzle 9 is dipped into the fuel oil which is to be pumped, care being taken that the enlarged nozzle body 12 With the air holes 13 is above the oil surface.

The valve 15 is opened to allowsufiicientnozzle 14 into the pumped fuel oil, the steam I thus heating the emulsified fuel oil when condensing and reducing its viscosity.

The neck 11 and the air holes 13 of the nozzle are so proportioned that the vacuum necessary for the transmissionof material is not broken when the inlet orifice is exposed. When the distance between the surface of the material to be pumped and the intake orifice is small, and the suction of the pumping apparatus is relatively great, the amount of material carried away from the nozzle by means of the suction is greater than the amount of material flowing towards the suction by gravity, and consequently the nozzle orifice will be exposed to the atmosphere and the suction will be broken.

When the liquid is viscous the gravity flow towards the intake nozzle is still further impeded by internal friction.-

During pumping fuel oil is sucked through the nozzle neck 11 and the material is here heated by the steam which emits from the nozzle 14. The atmospheric air expands into the suction line through the openings 13 without change of momentum and as the air flows many times faster than the fuel oil, the air will draw the fuel. oil with it and in so doing will emulsify the fuel oil.

The importance of so arranging the air passages that the atmospheric air will expand into the suction line without loss of momentum is evident when it is realized that atmospheric air will flow to a 20 vacuum with a velocity of approximately 800 feet per second.

Consider the diameter of the openings 13 to be inch.

The aggregate area of six such openings is A square inch and 1.33 cub. feet of atmospheric air will pass through the six shown openings in one second.

The work represented by the momentum of this air is two horse power, which would mean four horse power at the engine, con-.

sidering an efiiciency of 50 or more than 11 of a 35 horse power engine, which has been found suflicient in practice to maintain the vacuum.

It is a well known fact that the expansion of a gas is accompanied by a temperature drop.

If atmpspheric dry air is allowed to expand into air of 5 lbs. pressure per square inch and no heat is furnished to the expanding air the temperature of the air will drop with approximately 150 F.

The specific heat of fuel oil is about half that of water and double that of air and their viscosities increase rapidly with a temperature reduction.

This viscosity increase is much greater the .closer the temperature is to the freezing point of the oil, and a temperature reduction of a few degrees Fahrenheit will often more than double the viscosity of the oil.

A temperature drop of 150 F. for theair will in actual pumping practice of 3 lbs. oil per second mean a temperature reduction of from 2.5" F. to 30 F. for the pumped viscous material depending upon if the nozzle intake is submerged or exposed to the atmosphere.

When the nozzle is exposed to the atmosphere no material is being pumped, but a great amount of heat is extracted from the sides of the hose and during consecutive pumping the minute oil particles will cling to the cold hose sides and clog the system.

When the nozzle is exposed the amount of air pumped is approximately 12 times the amount of air pumped with the nozzle intake submerged in the liquid, and 12 times more heat is consequently withdrawn.

The emission of the steam which emits from nozzle'14: is to keep the pumped oil particles hot enough to prevent their clinging to the side of the hose thus clogging the system.

The oil particles are finally deposited into the exhaust and settling tank 3 and the heavier water condensations will flow to the bottom of the tank and will be removed through the drain 6.

I do not wish to .be understood to limit myself to the pumping of fuel oil from ships.

I claim 1. In an apparatus for pumping viscous material, a vacuum suction line, means allowing atmospheric air to expand into said suction line and mix with the viscous material to be pumped and means for heating the pumped mixture necessarily cooled by the air expansion.

2. In an apparatus for pumping viscous material a vacuum suction line, means allowng atmospheric air to expand into said suction line and mix with the viscous ma terial to be pumped and means for 1n ectmg steam 1nto the suction line forheatmg the pumped mixture necessarily cooled by I the air expansion.

3. In an apparatus for pumping viscous oil, a vacuum suction line, means allowing atmospheric air to expand into said suction line and mix with the viscous oil to be pumped, means for injecting steam into the suction line for heating the pumped mixture necessarily cooled by the air expansion, and means for separating the water condensations from the oil.

4. In a pumping apparatus a vacuum suction line, an intake surface nozzle having a restricted part to be submerged in the liquid to be pumped and an enlarged body part having passages communicating with the atmosphere, said passages being parallel with the suction line in order to allow the air to mix with and emulsify'the pumped liquid material without loss of momentum.

5. In an apparatus for pumping viscous material, a vacuum suction line, means for allowing air to expand into said suction line and mix with the viscous material to be pumped and means for heating the pumped mixture necessarily cooled by the air expansion.

6. The apparatus described, comprising an exhaust tank, means for maintaining a high vacuum therein, pipe connections from said tank to the material to be raised, means providing a steam jet at the end of said pipe connections receiving said material whereby steam may be mixed with the material being raised as the same moves through said pipe connections.

HERVEY J. WHEELER.

Witnesses:

JULIUS HOEFLY, Gunner G. Eu'esmm). 

